Results tagged “E-book”

Paul Cookson and Carl Flint have released their latest book of illustrated poems as an eBook.

THE TOILET SEAT HAS TEETH is available from the iTunes App Store to download to your iPod Touch or iPhone. This eBook of short poems is aimed directly at children and takes full advantage of the 'cool' form factor of the Apple devices.

This is the first time that Paul and Carl have worked together to produce something custom made for the iPhone. It is published by Sleepydog (www.sleepydog.net) who recognise the potential of emerging technologies such as the iPhone or iPod Touch to engage and encourage young readers in new and exciting ways.

"This is a great idea! Anything that makes reading cool and gets kids reading for pleasure must be a good thing.'" Anthony Brown, Children's Laureate.

THE TOILET SEAT HAS TEETH features a number of Paul Cookson's 'greatest hits' plus other brand new poems written especially for this format. In some cases, for example 'Getaway Pet', the pictures came first and inspired the poems that accompany them; the first time Paul and Carl have worked this way.

"Often as a writer you work in isolation. But what was really inspiring with this project was using existing illustrations as starting points for the poems. Poems that would never have been written evolved thanks to this approach." Paul Cookson, poet.

THE TOILET SEAT HAS TEETH includes an irreverent, interactive quiz to test kids' knowledge and comprehension of the material. It also features the creators' biographies in poetic form!

There's a huge market in iPad apps for kids. Tablet-owning parents are discovering that Apple's device is good both for keeping children amused alone, and for using together. Meanwhile, iPad is also bringing a dash of interactivity to e-books.

Publisher Random House is hoping to blend these two trends. It's signed a deal with a design agency called Smashing Ideas, in order to make a series of 'book-based children's apps' for mobile devices. iPad, yes, but presumably iPhone and other smartphones too.

Sales of ebooks and digital products flew dramatically last year, hitting some 80 billion RMB ($11.8 billion) in 2009 - up from 50 billion RMB ($7.35 billion USD) in 2008. It still represents less than 10% of the overall book market, which is valued at just over a trillion RMB ($150 billion USD).

E-readers in particular have become a hot product. As reported here last month, Shanda Literature Group -- the country's largest digital publisher -- released heir first dedicated e-reader, the Bambook.

In May, China Mobile -- the world's largest cell phone carrier -- announced that it was building China's largest online digital bookstore. The company plans to offer its subscribers 3G wireless access to online publications including digital books, comics, newspapers and magazines -- some 60,000 titles in all -- and hopes to attract some 200 million users over the next five years.

Earlier, in April, China Publishing Group -- the country's largest traditional publisher -- and Shanghai Century Publishing Group also released their own e-readers.

To get a sense of the pace of growth, consider just one ereader manufacturer: Hanwang. In 2009, Hanwang reported total sales of 270,000 e-readers; this year, the company nearly matched the number in sales in the first quarter alone and expects total units to surpass a million by the end of the year.

Digitization is pushing publishing into "a new historical period" and offering "unprecedented opportunities, according to Sun Shoushan, deputy director of China's General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP), who made the remarks earlier this year